Pin setter



United States Patent David J. Lemal Rockledge;

Samuel J. Greger, Glenside, Pennsylvania 709,252

Feb. 29, 1968 Nov. 24, 1970 Standard Pressed Steel Co.

Jenkintown, Pennsylvania a corporation of Pennsylvania Inventors Appl.No. Filed Patented Assignee PIN SETTER 10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 227/114, 227/130 B25c 5/06 Int. Cl.

Field of Search l09,ll4,ll9, 130,138,139

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 265,618 10/1882 McKayetal277/130x 635,540 10/1899 Grammes 227/107 1,406,027 2/1922 Kabigting...227/139 1,485,413 3/1924 JOhanS01l.... 227/139x 1,730,750 10/1929Stimpson 227/139 2,966,681 1/1961 Campbell 227/130 PrimaryExaminer-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney-Stanley Belsky ABSTRACT: Anautomated high-speed pin setter which directs spring pins, dowel pinsand the like from a vibratory continuous feed hopper through a deliverytube to a nose piece where an air actuated plunger drives the pins intothe work piece. Provision is made to preclude binding of the pins in thedelivery tube and in the loading magazine.

f Patented Ncv. 24, 1970 3,542,272

Sheet 1 of 2 INVENTORS Sgm yreyer David Lema we! J.

PIN SE'ITER This invention relates to pin setters and more in particularto an automated continuous feed pin setter. While the apparatus of theinvention will be described in connection with the setting of springpins, it will be apparent that other types of pins, such as dowel pins,also may be set by this apparatus.

Spring pins, which are cylindrical tube segments having a slit runningthe length of the segment, find a wide commercial application as aconvenient and economical pivot pin or locating pin in mass producedcommercial product lines, i.e., where mating parts designed to moverelative to each other are made from materials such as plastics,phenolics or light metal stampings. Each part has'a bore to receive thespring pin with the bores in mating segments being alined to receive thespring I pins. Once the pin is inserted, either as a locating pin, or toprovide a pivot pin so that the two mating parts can rotate relative toeach other, the operation is repeated. Heretofore, the inserting ofspring pins in mating parts has been accomplished by a manual operationwherein the operator picks up the two mating parts, alines them, andmanually inserts the spring pin. Since the use of spring pins in thismanner is a volume operation, the manual procedure is unnecessarily slowand tedious and results in inordinately high labor costs.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention pins are fed from acontinuous feed hopper, such as a vibratory feed hopper, through adelivery tube to a nose piece. A single pin is alined in the magazineand is fed by an air actuated plunger to the work piece held in a jigbelow the plunger. The plunger is actuated on command by the operatorand the speed of operation is limited only by the speed with which theoperator can place the mating parts in the jig, actuate the plunger,remove the parts and insert a new assembly. I

The construction of such a preferred embodiment as well as theadvantages thereof, which'include provision to insert pins in a workpiece in a rapid and efficient manner, adaptability to handle springpins, dowel pins and the like of different sizes, and uniformity ofoperation to insure a uniform work product, will become further apparentfrom the following specification when considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. I is an elevational view of the apparatus of the present invention;A

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the nose piece and plungerassembly; and

' FIG. 3 is a secton sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

With reference to the accompanying drawings a spring pin setter It)includes a supporting frame 12, a vibratory, parts feeding hopper 14which feeds the spring pins 15 through a gravity feed delivery tube 16to the lower end of a pneumatically operated spring pin setter 18. Thespring pin setter 18 is mounted on the frame structure. 12 just above awork holding fixture of jig 20 which is machined to accurately retainand aline the mating parts 22 and 24 through which the spring pins areinserted.

The pin setter 18 includes a barrel portion 26 which is mounted to theframe 12 by means of a bracket assembly 28 and bolts 30. As shown inFIG. 2, within the barrel 26 is a reciprocating plunger 32 which has anelongated pin inserting rod 34 at one end. At the lower end of thebarrel 26 is a nose piece 36 which includes a chamber 38 with a shoulderportion 40. In the lower end of the nose piece 36 is a driver receivingbore 42 which accommodates the reciprocating inserting rod 34 andprovides abarrel chamber to receive the single spring pin which is to beinserted on the next driving stroke of rod 34.

The spring pins 15 are fed. through feeding tube 16 into a pin receivingaperture 44 at the lower end of the nose piece36 and are deposited inthe-driver receiving bore 42 where they are restrained from furtherdownward travel by means of a spring urged ball plunger assembly 46. Thespring plunger as sembly 46 includes a detent ball 48 whichis housed ina bore 50 which as at right angles to, and communicates with, the driverreceiving bore 42. The bore 50 has a lip 51 which prevents ball 48 fromentering driver receiving bore 42. The

ball 48 is urged so that it protrudes slightly into the driver receivingbore 42 by means of a spring 52 which is retained by an adjustment screw54. Thus, when the plunger rod 34 is in a raised position, as shown inFIG. 2, a single spring pin 15a is allowed to fall into the driverreceiving bore 42 where it is stopped from further movement by thespring urged ball plunger. The next spring pin in feed tube 16 restsagainst the top of the pin 15a in driver receiving bore 42 and the otherpins in tube 16 back up end to end in the tube 16 to the hopper 14. Whenthe plunger 34 is actuated, the spring pin 15a alined in the driverreceiving bore 42 is pushed downward, first forcing the spring ballplunger 48 back into the bore 50 and then moving out of the nose piece36 into the mating parts 22 and 24 (FIG. I).

As shown in FIG. I, the plunger 32 is actuated by a double acting airsupply from air valve 60. The valve 60 receives an air supply from line62 and on a driving stroke directs the air through line 64 and airsupply nipple 66 to the upper portion of the barrel 26. The plunger 32within barrel 26 is constructed so that it operates as an air piston andthus the upper portion of the barrel 26 is sealed from the lower portionby means of an air seal, such as an O-ring (not shown), carried by theplunger 32. To retract the plunger, the air from line 64 is cutoff byvalve 60 and air is directed by valve 60 through line 70 and air supplynipple 72 into the lower portion of barrel 26 thus forcing the plungerback up the barrel 26 where it is ready to receive air from line 64 onthe next cycle. The plunger 32, through actuation of valve 60 isoperated under control of the operator, i.e., by a foot pedal (notshown), or

any other suitable actuating device.

Pin receiving aperture 44 is oriented at an acute angle with respect todriver receiving bore 42 with the diameter of bore 42 being large enoughwith respect to the spring pin diameter to allow the pins to fall freelyintobore 42. The oversized driver receiving bore diameter also allowsthe use of spring pins of varying diameter within a specified range, theonly limitation being the ability of the spring pin to enter driverreceiving bore 42 from pin receiving aperture 44 and still be able toorient itself along the axis of bore 42.

Since the spring pins 15 are relatively light and the diameter of driverreceiving bore 42 is greater than the pin diameter, the weight of theline of spring pins in the delivery tube 16 has a tendency to cause thespring pin 15a in bore 42 to cock to one side and, therefore, be out ofalinement when the plunger rod 34 is actuated on a driving stroke. Topreclude this tendency, an air actuated plunger assembly 76 is mountedon magazine 36 which includes a plunger 78 adapted to extend into andretract from driver receiving bore 42 within a driver receiving bore 80in the wall of nose piece 36. The plunger 76 is mounted on the nosepiece 36 in a position so that when plunger 78 is extended, itpositively retains the spring pin 15a in proper alinement within thedriver receiving bore 42 and prevents the pin from tilting or cocking toone side. As shown in FIG. 1, power for the plunger is supplied throughan air line 82 from valve 60 (actual connection to valve 60 not shown)during the same cycle that air is supplied to the barrel 26 through line70. There is a time delay mechanism in line 82 (not shown) which delaysthe actuation of plunger 78 until the plunger rod 34 is withdrawn andthe next spring pin has descended into position in driver receiving bore42. The plunger 78 is outwardly biased by a spring (not shown) so thatwhen air from line 82 is shut off the plunger retracts. Thus, when rod34 is retracted preparatory to inserting a spring pin, the next springpin in the delivery tube 16 drops into the driver receiving bore 42 andis retained by the extending ball member 48. At this point air issupplied to line 82 and plunger 78 extends to engage the spring pin indriver receiving bore 42. On the driving stroke of rod 34, the airsupply to the plunger assembly 76 is shut off by valve 60, plunger 78retracts under the spring force and rod 34 is forced downward to contactthe spring pin and push it out of the nose piece to the work piece.

The spring pins are fed from vibratory hopper M to delivery tube 26 andform a continuous line in tube 16 to the nose piece 36. The vibratoryhopper provides a pushing force on the pins and there is a tendency forthe pins to become cocked and misaligned while in the tube. This causesa binding in the tube which prevents a free flow of pins and aninterruption in the continuous stream of delivery. As shown in FIGS. 1,2 and 3, an agitating mechanism 90 is provided which comprises acylindrical housing 92 having a closed top and bottom portion 94 and 96,respectively, with apertures 98 and 100 therein to receive the deliverytube 1 6. A ball 102 is provided in the housing 92 of such a size as toroll freely within the confines of the agitator 90. A continuous airsupply from tube 104 is directed to the interior of the agitator 90 tokeep the ball constantly in motion while air exhaust aperture 106 in thetop portion 94 allows the air to escape. The continuously rolling ballwithin the agitator 90'creates a gentle vibratory motion which iscommunicated to the delivery tube 16 and keeps the spring pins thereinfrom binding thereby maintaining a smooth, uninterrupted delivery ofpins.

The apparatus of the present invention can be adapted to handle springpins of varying lengths within a specified design range. For thispurpose a micrometer adjustment 110 is provided which adjusts the lengthof the stroke of piston 32 to accommodate spring pins of varyinglengths.

It is thus seen that an apparatus is provided which feeds a continuousstream of spring pins from a vibratory hopper through a delivery tube toa loading station. There the pins are individually fed to a nose piece,alined and ejected by a reciprocating plunger rod and inserted in a workpiece. Pins of varying lengths can be accommodated-by varying the lengthof the plunger stroke by a micrometer adjustment, and the speed ofoperation is limited only by the operator's speed in placing the workpiece in the work holding fixture.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for setting spring pins in a work piece comprising:

means to deliver a continuous supply of spring pins to a load station;

a nose piece at said load station to receive a single spring pin fromsaid continuous supply means;

means to drive said single spring pin from said nose piece into a workpiece comprising an air cylinder having a reciprocating plunger; saidplunger including a rod extending therefrom and adapted to engage saidsingle spring pin during a portion of its stroke thereby to drive saidspring pin from said nose piece; 1

said nose piece being positioned at one end of said cylinder andincluding a housing having a bore therethrough, said bore beingpositioned in alinement with said reciprocating rod;

said nosepiece housing having a pin receiving aperture therein whichintersects said bore whereby said pins are fed into said bore in saidnose piece through said aperture; and

intermittently operable means operatively associated with said nosepiece to aline said single spring pin in said nose piece to precludebinding of said spring pins during operation of said apparatus.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said means to aline saidintermittently operable single pin includes a plunger assembly mountedon said nose piece wherein said plunger is operable to extendandretract, said plunger in said extended position being adapted to engagesaid single pin to retain said single pin in proper alinement 3. Theapparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said plunger assembly on saidmagazine is operable to engage said single pin during that portion ofthe cycle of operation beginning with the seating of said single pin insaid nose piece and ending with the beginning of said driving stroke ofsaid plunger.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim I wherein said means to supply acontinuous supply of lpins comprises a tube having one end adapted to beoperab y connected to a continuous feed hopper and wherein said tubeincludes means mounted on said tube to agitate said tube thereby toprevent binding of said pins therein.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said means mounted onsaid tube includes a housing having a top surface and a bottom surfacedefining a cavity therein, at least one element in said cavity which isfree to move within said cavity and an air supply. to said cavitythereby to continuously agitate said element to provide a shaking effecton said tube to keep said pins from binding.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said nose piece includesa receiving aperture therein: said receiving aperture being adapted toreceive said pins and said aperture is oriented at an acute angle withrespect to said bore thereby to allow said pins to fall freely into saidbore.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 including means on said aircylinder to vary the length of the stroke of said plunger thereby toaccommodate pins of varying lengths.

8. An automated spring pin setter comprising:

an air actuated plunger mechanism adapted to extend and retract;

a nose piece mounted at one end of said plunger mechanism;

said nose piece adapted to receive a supply of spring pins from acontinuous spring pin feeding means;

said nose piece being constructed to chamber a single spring pin inalinement with said plunger mechanism whereby when said plunger extendssaid single spring pin is ejected from said magazine and set in a workpiece; and

said nose piece includes means to positively aline said single springpin including an air actuated rod mounted on said nose piece, said rodbeing adapted to extend to positively engage said single spring pin insaid nose piece.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said plunger mechanismincludes a barrel, an air piston member within said barrel, air supplymeans to each end of said barrel, said air supply means controlled by adouble acting valve operable to cyclically direct air to each said endof said barrel thereby to extend and retract said plunger.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein said spring pin feedingmeans includes a delivery tube adapted to deliver a supply of springpins held end to end in said tube to said nose piece, said tubeincluding means mounted thereon to agitate said tube to prevent bindingand misalinement of said pins therein.

